In color photographic light-sensitive materials, when the photographic material is exposed to light and color-developed, the oxidized color developer and couplers are reacted, and an image is formed. In this system, color reproduction by the subtractive color process is used, and, to reproduce blue, green, and red colors, images are formed that are yellow, magenta, and cyan in color, complementary to blue, green, and red.
Color development is accomplished by immersing the exposed color photographic material in an aqueous alkali solution in which a color-developing agent is dissolved (a developing solution). However, the color-developing agent in the form of an aqueous alkali solution is unstable and liable to deteriorate with time, and there is the problem that the developing solution must be replenished frequently in order to retain stable developing performance. Further, used developing solutions containing a color-developing agent are required to be discarded, and this, together with the above frequent replenishment, creates a serious problem regarding the treatment of used developing solutions that are discharged in large volume. Thus, low-replenishment and reduced discharge of developing solutions are strongly demanded.
One effective measure for solving the problems of low replenishment and reduced discharge of developing solutions, is a method wherein an aromatic primary amine developing agent or its precursor is built in the hydrophilic colloid layer of a color photographic material. Examples of the developing agents that can be built in include compounds described, for example, in British Patent No. 803,783, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,342,597, 3,719,492, and 4,060,418, British Patent No. 1,069,061, West Germany Patent No. 1,159,758, JP-B ("JP-B" means examined Japanese patent publication) Nos. 14,671/1983 and 14,672/1983, and JP-A ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application) Nos. 76,543/1982 and 81,643/1984. However, color photographic light-sensitive materials having these aromatic primary amine developing agents or their precursors built into them have a defect that satisfactory color formation is not obtained when they are chromogenically developed. Another effective measure is a method wherein a sulfonohydrazide developing agent is built into the hydrophilic colloid layer of a color photographic material, and examples of the color-developing agent that can be built in include compounds described, for example, in European Patent Nos. 545,491A1 and 565,165A1. However, there is the problem that the developing agents listed therein still cannot give satisfactory color formation when the photographic materials are chromogenically developed. Accordingly, a developing agent is strongly desired that can be built in and that will give satisfactory color formation when the photographic material is developed.